Whole Wheat Pancakes

The old adage “the whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead” might be a bit extreme, but we all know that whole grains are better for us than the processed white stuff. I actually prefer wheat or multigrain bread to white in most cases (can’t say I’m too crazy about whole wheat pizza crust or whole wheat English muffins, though), and I am absolutely over the moon for whole wheat pancakes. To me they seem to have so much more flavor and depth than their plain white counterparts. And there is something about cooking them that makes me feel like I’m on Little House on the Prairie. I’m weird, I know.

I made these for dinner last night and my white bread junkie of a husband actually liked them. We ate ours with some pure maple syrup (in my case) or strawberry jam (Mike’s preference). I’m sure they would be delicious topped with some fresh fruit or a chunky fruit syrup as well. I think I’m going to try adding some blueberries to the batter as soon as they are in season again.

I found this recipe in my beloved Ivory Favorites cookbook. If you don’t have one, get your hiney down to Make-A-Wish foundation and buy one. I have yet to cook something out of this book that I didn’t completely love, and that’s no exaggeration.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. salt

1) Combine all ingredients and beat with a wisk until combined (careful not to overmix, though. A few lumps are okay).
2) Heat a nonstick griddle or pan on medium heat (350-375 degrees on an electric griddle).
3) When the pan is hot, drop the desired amount of batter onto it and cook until edges look done and the middle is no longer bubbling (about a minute for a ¼ cup of batter).
4) Flip the pancake and cook for a minute or two longer, or until the pancake is no longer doughy in the middle.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I’ve found mushrooms to be a polarizing food. People either love them or hate them enough to insist on calling them a fungus every chance they get (hi, husband!). I bet you can guess which camp I fall into. If not, let me just tell you that I drooled all over my keyboard when I found this recipe.

Some folks prefer their mushroom caps stuffed with fancy ingredients like crab or sausage, but I have found that I like them best when they are filled with, well, more mushrooms. The recipe listed below is a very basic filling of chopped mushrooms bound together with a savory cheese mixture. Simple, festive, and delicious. Make them for your next fancy dinner (just make sure you’re not entertaining mushroom haters).

Stuffed Mushrooms

16 oz. whole white button mushrooms
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ teaspoon oregano powder
½ clove garlic, finely minced
¼ cup grated parmesan (the stuff in the green can)
2 ½ tablespoons milk

1) Wipe any visible dirt from mushrooms with a towel (or if you are a clean freak you can rinse them with cold water- just be sure to dry them afterwards).
2) Separate stems from mushroom caps
3) Chop stems into small pieces
4) Combine cream cheese, oregano powder, garlic, parmesan, and milk until you have a smooth, homogenous mixture.
5) Stir in mushroom stem pieces
6) Using a teaspoon, spoon filling into each mushroom cap.
7) Sprinkle with a little more parmesan, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. These suckers need to be eaten while they are still warm, so either serve them straight out of the oven or keep in a heated dish.

Pecan-Topped Yams

Of all the foods that regularly show up on the Thanksgiving table, yams are probably the least likely to make an appearance on any other day of the year. The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. usually come around again at Christmastime or on an equally special occasion, but yams? They seem to be reserved exclusively for the end-of-autumn feast.

So if these orange beauties are showing up on your Thanksgiving menu this year, it’s best to make them memorable. If you usually serve yams topped with marshmallows or candied in syrup, I beg you to give this method a try instead. The end result is still sweet, but with a greater complexity of flavor and a bit of earthiness to it.

This recipe comes from the Ivory Favorites cookbook, and has been served at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner for years. This dish is ideal for Thanksgiving because it can be assembled a day ahead, then popped into the oven an hour or so before dinner (these need to be served warm, but not piping hot). These yams are very rich, and, in my experience, the amount listed below will easily feed up to 12 people.

Pecan-Topped Yams

4 cups cooked and mashed yams*
½ cup melted butter
¼ cup-1 cup sugar**
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pecan topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans

1) Combine yams with melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
2) Mix well, then pour into a greased 9”x 13” glass dish.
3) Combine brown sugar and flour; mix well.
4) Stir in melted butter and nuts
5) Crumble nut mixture over the top of the yams
6) Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, or until set.

*I cook the yams by cutting them into thirds and steaming them in a pot of hot water with a steamer basket until they are fork tender (usually takes about an hour).
** I know this is a wide range, but the amount of sugar you use depends on how sweet your yams are and how tooth-aching you want the finished product to be. I always add the other ingredients first, then taste and see how much sugar to add. I usually never use more than a half cup even though the recipe calls for a full one.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Next week is Thanksgiving, which means that autumn is officially drawing to a close. What better way to see it out than by baking some aromatic pumpkin bread? I guess you really could make pumpkin bread at any time of year, but to me it's very much a "fall" thing.

I don't like my pumpkin bread particularly spicy, so I cut down on the original quantities of nutmeg and cinnamon called for in this recipe. If you like yours to have more spice to it up the quantities a little, and maybe even get crazy and add some allspice or ground cloves.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

2 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
16 oz. cooked or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 c. oil
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2/3 c. water
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I usually use more- just add to your liking)

1) Mix dry ingredients together (first 7 ingredients on the list)
2) Mix wet ingredients (pumpkin, water, oil, eggs) separately then stir into the dry ingredients.
3) Stir in chocolate chips
4) Pour batter into two greased 9x5 loaf pans (I used one 8x4 pan and about 5 mini loaf pans- not sure of their exact dimensions)
5) Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes (less time if you're using smaller pans- my mini ones took about a half hour), or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

You know how some things are just not worth the trouble of making from scratch because the store-bought variety is both better and cheaper? I am here to tell you that Ranch dressing is one thing that most definitely does not fall into this category. The homemade version blows Hidden Valley out of the water, plus it is a cinch to make.

I have to credit my older sister for finding this recipe, which can be found in its entirety here, but since I'm nice I will type it out for you all neat and simple like.

In the summer I might try making this with fresh herbs, but it's absolutely delicious with the dried stuff, most of which is probably located on that spice rack you got as a wedding gift.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1 cup mayo
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. of each of the following:
onion salt
garlic salt (or fresh minced garlic)
parsley, fresh or dried
chopped chives, fresh or dried
dill, fresh or dried
pepper

1) Mix mayo and buttermilk in a bowl
2) Stir in remaining ingredients
3) Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Potato Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce

I can’t remember the first time I tried gnocchi. I only know that for years now these little potato dumplings are what I order whenever I go to an Italian restaurant. For the record, I still think the ones at Confetti’s are the best I’ve had in Salt Lake.

Like souffles or puff pastry, gnocchi tend to have a certain scare factor associated with cooking them at home. Every cookbook in the world will warn you of the extensive time involved, as well as the potential risks: put in too much flour and the gnocchi are heavy, don’t add enough and they disintegrate, handle the dough too much and you’re also in trouble. While these statements are not unfounded, it’s not like the process is rocket science. Here’s what I have found to be true in my limited gnocchi-making experience:

The Bad News:
-You’ll need to buy a potato ricer to make these suckers. A lot of recipes will simply call for mashed potato, but to get gnocchi that are light and fluffy you’ll want to use a potato ricer.
-Gnocchi are not a quick meal. I once decided to make them on a Monday night after work and nearly ended up in tears.
-Making the dough is not an exact science, and depends a lot on feel, trial and error, etc. If you’re uncomfortable cooking without precise measurements, this might be a little stressful for you.
-Don’t plan on serving gnocchi to a crowd. You have to cook them in small batches, so they aren’t ideal for parties larger than 6 people.

The Good News:
-Unless you want to employ your potato ricer for other meals, you can buy a crappy 5 dollar model like the one I have. It ain’t the greatest, but it gets the job done.
-Although these sound all fancy and foreign, the ingredients needed to make gnocchi are dirt cheap and you probably have them on hand.
-Like other pasta, gnocchi are versatile. You can serve them simply with sauce, use them in soup, saute with some vegetables, etc.
-Gnocchi can be kept frozen for up to a month. So although it takes a couple of hours to make the original product, you can freeze them and have a quick dinner later on.

Now that you have the rundown, here is a very basic gnocchi recipe. I made these on Sunday and committed the cardinal sin of adding too much flour so my gnocchi were a bit heavy, but I have adjusted the recipe so you (hopefully) don’t make the same mistake.

(image courtesy of city-data.com)

Gnocchi

2 pounds russet potatoes
1 ½- 2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch nutmeg
1 egg, beaten

1) Bake the potatoes at 400 degrees for about one hour, or until fork tender.
2) Let the potatoes cool for a few minutes, then peel the potatoes and pass through a potato ricer or food mill (you want the potatoes to be cool enough to handle, but still hot).
3) While the potatoes are still warm, add the beaten egg, salt, and nutmeg.
4) Add the flour, starting with one cup, and lightly knead the dough with your fingertips.
5) Keep adding flour until the dough isn’t sticking to your hands, but still has a bit of sticky softness to it. Knead lightly until you have a homogenous dough, then separate it into 6 pieces.
6) On a lightly floured surface, gently roll each piece into a ¾ inch thick rope.
7) Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces.
8) Roll each piece over the tines of a fork to get that classic ridged gnocchi shape (this takes some practice. If you don’t want to deal with it you can just poke a hole in them with the tip of your finger- the idea is to make the gnocchi a little rough so that sauce will adhere to them).
9) Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil.
10) Drop gnocchi in about ten or so at a time, depending on the size of your pot (you don’t want them on top of each other)
11) When gnocchi float to the top of the water (this will take about 3 or 4 minutes), wait another 30 seconds or so and remove them with a slotted spoon.
12) Serve immediately or keep in a heated serving bowl.

Serve with your favorite pasta sauce and grated parmesan cheese. (Recipe for one of my favorite sauces below).

To freeze: place gnocchi on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer until they are firm (about an hour or so), then place in a ziploc bag.

Tomato Cream Sauce
I made this sauce to go with the gnocchi I served on Sunday, and man alive was it good. This is a fairly chunky tomato sauce, but if you like yours smooth then just puree the tomatoes or use all tomato sauce instead of canned tomatoes. I kinda just threw it together with the stuff I had on hand but I’ve tried to backtrack and come up with some exact measurements, instructions, etc. Here goes:

42 oz. canned diced tomatoes, drained.
14 oz. tomato sauce
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp. salt*
1 tsp. dried basil*
~8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 cup cream

1) Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or saucepan over medium heat.
2) Add garlic and saute for a minute or so
3) Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, and salt (at this point I broke up the tomato chunks a little with the tip of my spatula so they weren’t quite so big).
4) Simmer uncovered on low heat for about an hour, or until the mixture is reduced to your liking
5) Add fresh basil and simmer 5 more minutes
6) Add cream and simmer for ten minutes more.

*These are the measurements I’m most unsure of. I always just sprinkle in seasonings and taste the sauce throughout the cooking progress to see if the amounts need adjusting. I suggest you do the same.

One Cake, Three Ways (For Ashlee)

Most of the cake I truly love tends to fall into the non-traditional camp. I like rich flourless cakes (more of a brownie feel) or banana bread-type loaf cakes more than I do the layers-with-frosting kind of thing. That said, there are times when only a traditional cake will do. When those occasions arise, I immediately reach for this recipe. It was given to me by my best friend’s mom, who is a bona fide domestic diva and a second mother to me in many ways.

Yes, this cake is ridiculously fattening. Yes, it uses ultra-processed ingredients. Both of these things might have stopped me from making it had I not tasted the finished product first, but I’m glad I did because this cake is delicious. Moist, flavorful, and everything a cake should be; none of that dry, crumbly texture that so many cakes fall prey to.

This recipe started life as a chocolate cake, but the method outlined in it can be used to create many different flavors and types of cake. I’ve listed 2 variations below the chocolate one, and I’m sure there are many more that you could try.

DeAnn’s Chocolate Cake

1 Devil’s Food cake mix (Duncan Hines brand is best)
1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup water

1. Using either a stand or hand-held electric mixer, mix all ingredients on medium speed for 3 minutes
2. Pour batter into two 8'' or 9” greased pans
3. Bake at 350 for about 27 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
4. When completely cooled, frost with chocolate frosting (recipe below)

Frosting:
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 stick butter, at room temperature
enough milk or cream to make spreading consistency

Beat all ingredients except milk on low speed until combined, then keep beating and add milk slowly until desired spreading consistency is achieved.

Almond Poppy Seed Bundt Cake


Same ingredients as chocolate cake except:
-Use yellow cake mix instead of devil’s food
-Use french vanilla pudding instead of chocolate
-Add 2 tablespoons each of poppy seeds and pure almond extract to the batter.

1) Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes
2) Pour into a well-greased bundt pan
3) Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
4) When completely cooled, glaze with the following:

Glaze:
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1-2 teaspoons pure almond extract

1) Whisk powdered sugar and milk together until smooth and of pouring consistency.
2) Add 1 tsp. almond extract and mix well.
3) If glaze is too thick, thin using small amounts of milk until correct consistency is achieved.
4) Taste and add more almond extract if needed for flavor.

Red Velvet Cake
-Same ingredients and directions as chocolate cake except instead of devil’s food use red velvet cake mix
-I have made this both as a layer cake and a bundt cake, so follow the baking times for whichever method you like to use.
-If making a bundt, I like to stir a handful or two of semi-sweet chocolate chips into the batter
-I always frost this cake with cream cheese frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2-4 cups sifted powdered sugar (depending on how sweet and thick you want the frosting to be- taste as you go)
2 tsp. vanilla

1) Beat butter and cream cheese together
2) Add sugar and vanilla and beat until of spreading consistency

If you are making a layer cake, frost as usual, but if you are making a bundt I suggest putting the frosting in a ziploc bag (or legit pastry bag if you have one) and letting it firm up in the fridge for a while, then cutting the tip off the ziploc bag and piping the frosting on the sides of the bundt.